Photography

Art In The Sky

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Being this far North in the third week of June, meant that the outdoor conditions are different from our home in Sudbury. The leaf cover had just came out the week before. This gives you that nice fresh yellow green color in the landscape. The wild shrubs were just now in full bloom along with a number of wildflowers. The winter climate up here is so harsh that plants commonly found in the Arctic grow along the shores of Lake Superior. The folks at the Pukaskwa National Park said that the lake water temperature was 3 degrees. Brrr that is cold.

The above photo was taken on one of the three evenings that I set up on the lookout platform on the Manita Miikana Trail overlooking Lake Superior. As I was watching the sun go down towards the West of me I happen to look behind and saw this beautiful cloud pattern with a lot of color. I elected to create a vertical composition to contain the clouds. In the background you can see Horseshoe Bay and part of the sand beach.

Well that is it for this week. I will be set up at the French River Visitors Center for the weekend. I will have a great majority of my work on display. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great July First long weekend and be safe

Photography

Isle In The Mist

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My wife Maureen and I returned last Friday from a week at Pukaskwa National Park. This has been a dream trip for me with late morning breakfasts and late evening suppers. The week soared by very quickly as I explored and photographed. Believe it or not I have barely covered this vast wilderness. To be sure there are many more trips to this wonderful park. Maureen and I will be returning in August.

Lake Superior is a vast inland lake. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world with 10% of the world’s surface fresh water. This is a land of rugged shorelines, ancient landscape of the Canadian Shield. This is a lake that one has to respect. From its cold waters, sudden storms and heavy fog you can create beautiful compositions. To sit up on a hill and just observe the magnitude of this landscape is something to behold. With bold sky s, rolling hills and rugged shorelines interspersed with many islands. The wind blows cold. This is a living  inland sea.

Maureen and I met wonderful folks here. From John and Garth who are the hosts at the park, to the individual people who work here and share their passion  for the park. If an opportunity ever comes to visit Pukaskwa National Park be sure  to stop by of an evening to chat with John and Garth at their campfire. They are very knowledgeable about the park.

The above photo was the result of a fog that rolled in about mid afternoon. This is something that happens fairly often. This makes for some very interesting photography. At times you can see nothing and then the fog recedes to allow you to capture the scene as you like. I was standing on the platform at the Manito Miikana Trail looking towards the South when I created this composition.

I will go into more detail on this wonderful park in the future. Its history as well as geological and vegetation facts. Well that is it for now. I have a lot of digital files to go through and process. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Isle Of Light

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During an evening shoot at Bassfin Lake, I had an opportunity to capture the above scene. This consisted of a rocky island with stunted trees on it. The problem here was that the island bound trees under normal lighting would blend into the tree covered shoreline behind it. As the evening sun lowered to the horizon, the trees on the island lit up beautifully. There was now the separation that I was looking for. The sky became an orange color that also highlighted the trees. There is quite a bit of detail on the rocks themselves. There is a very nice touch of lighting highlighting trees in the middle ground. The angle of the sun in relationship to the island made this composition possible. It is all about the lighting.

The  36th Annual La Cloche  Art Show is upcoming. For entry forms and dates check here.

http://laclocheartshow.wordpress.com/

At the moment the “Art Impact” Juried Art Show is now on.

I have two pieces of my work selected at the show.

More info is available here.

http://www.artistsonelgin.ca/index.php/events/juried-art-show

. Until next time happy trails

Photography

The Waterfalls

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Waterfalls

The above location was captured on my first trip up the Matagamasi Road. This is the second waterfalls in this stretch of water between two lakes. Silvester Lake and Matagamasi Lake. The water is flowing quite high at the moment. Later in the summer there will be more rock exposures. The rock structures here are quite colorful in the low light.

The above  composition is a result of taking two overlapping shots vertically. I placed some rocks on the left for my lead in. The forest vegetation in upper part of photo creates a partial frame for the waterfalls. There is a lovely green tinge on the water surface.

Well that is it for now. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

An Evening at Bassfin Lake

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On Tuesday I drove up the Matagamasi Road for a late evening shoot at Bassfin Lake. This lake is easily accessible from the road, making it ideal for photographing. Bassfin Lake has a variety of islands to work with. The shorelines have some interesting rock structures to work with. This is also a lake to capture some interesting sunsets. What I am always after is rock structures and trees.

Upon arrival there was a bit of wind blowing. As the sun lowered to the horizon the wind started to abate. With the sun almost at the horizon point I captured the above scene that was a point of land jutting into the lake. The sun was filtering through the scattering of evergreens to create some very interesting light patterns. This is the type of lighting that can turn an ordinary scene into a thing of beauty. The water in the foreground is kept to a minimal. The rock on the shoreline gives depth and added contrast to the scene. This is Northern Ontario. As the sun went down the misquotes came swarming  around me. I had to step back from my camera in hopes of keeping them from messing up my photos. If there are too many in front of the lens, you will end up with  blurry spots in the composition. Another issue at the moment is pine pollen. This stuff is everywhere. In the water, in the air and on land. Whichever way the wind is blowing you will see the yellowish green pollen along the shoreline.

The 36th Annual La Cloche Art Show is coming up. For more info on submissions and dates check here.

http://laclocheartshow.wordpress.com/

Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by. Until next week happy trails

Photography

A Magical Pool

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The past Saturday morning dawned cloudy with mist. I drove into Jan Winther’s driveway around 7:30. We loaded up our gear. First stop was Tim Horton’s to grab some coffee. Our goal was to travel up the Matagamasi Road to explore for photographic possibilities. We headed out of Sudbury travelling East on Hwy 17. In a short time we turned onto the Kukagami Road and headed North. It was not long before we reached the Matagamasi Road turnoff. The gravel road was in good condition.

As we traveled, Jan and I scouted out the various lakes we passed along the road. There were a number of locations that were worth while to come back to. As we drove further North the country became more and more hilly. It is very heavily forested here. There is also logging in progress up here. Being the week-end I had no worries about logging trucks. They do not operate on week-ends. We soon left the lakeside homes and were now traveling in wilderness areas. As we drove along a moose appeared in front of us. It ambled up the road and disappeared back into the bush.

Our goal for this trip was to locate a series of waterfalls further North. Paul Smith set me up for the location. We were now in the Wolf Mountain, Wolf Lake. This area contains the largest expanse of old growth Red Pine. This wilderness area is in pristine country. It has protected status. I will be journeying up to Wolf Lake in the near future. For now  I will look for the waterfalls location. Using both map and GPS, Jan and I soon found our jump off point. As we loaded up our camera gear it started to rain. Hiking up an old logging road, the rain continuing to fall, we were soon drenched. Walking down the road, a marshy area came into view. This part of the road was totally flooded. Checking my GPS we discovered that we were now off course. Backtracking on the road, we soon discovered a trail heading in the direction we wanted to go. It was soon discovered that this was a well used trail. As we approached the waterway the sound of running water came to our ears.

Upon arrival we were enthralled by the beauty of this series of small waterfalls nestled among the rocks. The water was crystal clear. The rocks were colorful. The water flow was quite fast now. By now we were water logged from the rain. As a matter of fact it was now coming down harder. We elected to head back to the vehicle and have lunch. I tell you the mosquito population is quite heavy up here. Just before we arrived back at the Ford Escape the Heavens opened more and the rain was now deluging everything.   There was water running everywhere and puddles were there was none before. About an hour and a half later the rain stopped. I headed back to the waterfalls and Jan elected to stay in the vehicle.

This is a very magical location. The photo above is of the upper pool. There is just a hint of a waterfalls cascading down through the rocks into a crystal clear pool of water. I used rocks for the foreground to enclose the pool. The boughs of the cedars are very lacy looking here. A hint of color by the red fallen pine needles on the rocks. Using this effect I hope to create that magical effect in a very special locale. You could close your eyes and hear elves and children of the woods splashing in the pool. These are locations were you can tune out the world. You hear the sound of water tumbling along. The quiet whisper of the wind in the cedars. There is no better place to be.

While that is  it for now. Thank you for stopping by. I hope that I have created a magical moment for you. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

When The Hills Light Up

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A hot Spring day. Time to head for the hills. I loaded up my camera gear and fishing equipment into my Ford Escape. It was late afternoon when I headed North of Capreol. I retraced my route from last week . I drove up to the North River where I crossed over and continued North. Three times I had to pull over to allow logging trucks to pass by. They have the right of way. The gravel roads up here are narrow.

On my first trip up here I had spotted a nice piece of rock face up in the hills. Great lighting on the trees and a unique rock face with character. I figured that I would stop here    in the evening on the way back and photograph the scene. The hill had lost its uniqueness by evening due to there being no lighting on the trees. This location has just been logged over. Thus exposing the rock face from the road. When I arrived late afternoon yesterday, the lighting was wonderful. I hiked up an exposed ridge to get a clear view of my subject. The wind was quite strong and gusting. I bumped my iso up to 400. This allowed for a shutter speed of 250 to stop the wind movement. The clouds were moving fairly quickly so it was a matter of watching the lighting and waiting for some decent clouds to pass by in a nice blue sky.

Finishing up I headed further North. There were a couple of lads standing by some forestry equipment so I stopped for a bit of conversation. Always nice to talk to people up here as you can pick up useful information on the area you are travelling in. Moving on I reached the 45 km mark and parked by the river. Time for supper. I set up my chair and cooler at the edge of the river in the shade of a clump of trees. It is so nice to do this. With the sound of the river flowing by. A nice wind to keep you cool. Very few blackflies to annoy you. Even the smell is good. Finishing my supper I retrieved my fishing gear and proceeded to make a few casts. It was still too early to catch any Walleye. But a good way to pass some time waiting for evening to approach.

Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails

Photography

The Lonely Pine

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I traveled North of Capreol last Friday. This time I traveled on a different road going North. Beautiful sunny day but a cool North wind. I found a couple locations that could provide a composition. But it was not to be this day. The wind never let up into the evening. I will return at another date.

The above photo was taken on the previous trip North of Capreol. Jan Winthers and I were heading back to Capreol late in the evening  when we saw this nice piece of rock outcropping located on the far shoreline of a small swampy lake alongside of the road. There was a small pine tree located on the rock face that looked interesting. The quartz like rock face had many angles to it which creates  that unique depth. There are reddish colored pine needles trapped in the crevices to add more color. Now the trick here is to separated this single pine tree from the trees in the background. There is some lighting from the sun on some of the boughs that allows this little tree to stand out. I shot the composition vertical to complement the trunk of the pine tree. Also this kept things tight and not too busy.

There is a call for entries at the upcoming La Cloche Art Show. Check there website here.

http://laclocheartshow.wordpress.com/

Well that is it for now. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

North of Capreol Part 2

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After discovering the stream mentioned in the previous post, Jan Winther and I returned late in the afternoon to photograph the series of small waterfalls that are here. When we arrived the sunlight was blowing the highlights on the water. It was a couple hours before we could commence shooting. The above waterfalls was the first location as the stream dropped in elevation making its way to the North River. At the base of the waterfalls it was a mess of downed trees and other junk. I set up to the left of the waterfalls to exclude the mess. Also I like to photograph these type of scenes at a bit of an angle. This gives the water depth and dimension. If you photograph a waterfalls dead on it becomes flat looking. You must create the illusion of depth in your work. I will also do creative sharpening on the foreground to enhance this effect.

Now I had protruding rock on the left along with a good chunk of rock in the foreground. I created a composition of one third of forest and two thirds water falls looking at it vertically. You have to know were the water came from, which you can see through the cedar trees and you have an exit point at lower right in the composition. There is a lot of structure detail in the rocks. The cedar boughs have a color range from light to dark green. Almost looks like light from the sun painting some of the boughs. This helps also to create a very nice composition.

As we progressed into evening a few black flies started to appear. Welcome to Northern Ontario. They mainly hovered around us but did not seem to have any interest in biting us. Well that is it for this week. Thank you for coming by. Until next time happy trails

Photography

North of Capreol

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Picking up Jan Winthers, I headed towards Capreol. It was mid morning with a lovely blue sky and warm temperatures. This was a day to go adventuring and find some new photographic opportunities. Arriving in Capreol I headed to the nearest gas station to top off the gas tank. When you head up into wilderness locations always make sure you have a full gas tank. When you get near a half tank it is time to turn around and head back. We spotted a couple older gentlemen chatting by the road. I exited the Ford Explorer and approached them. They soon set me in the right direction and off we went.

We left town on a paved road, passed the turn off to the Wanapitei 11 Indian Reserve and were soon on a gravel sand road with lots of dust. Before I continue I will explain a little about this area. The North River runs in a southerly direction and empties into Wanapitaei Lake at the North End. This being Victoria Day weekend there is lots of folks up here camping and fishing. This is Walleye country. As is typical in Northern Ontario, there is intensive logging occurring here.  It did not seem that long before we came to the North River. Crossing over the bridge I decided to head North.

The North River was still running high from Spring run off. The scenery was great to look at with a lot of high hills. But not much in the way of photographing. Heading North we followed the river. Upon reaching the 45 km the road got rough and washed out. By now it was lunch time. Hauling out the camp chairs, Jan and I enjoyed a leisure bite to eat with the sound of running water beside us. Making our way back down the road with windows open Jan and I heard the sound of running water in the bush. We looked and sure enough you could she a small waterfalls tumbling down through the trees.

Parking the vehicle, we made our way towards the running water and found a series of small waterfalls. This stream came from a lake up above and flowed into the North River. The above composition was one of the scenes I created. The rock to the left was rounded and curved. The water flow followed the rock curvature.  I   used that as my eye in. There is not a lot of open space along this stream bed. The evergreens and cedar have a mixture of old and new growth to give you the yellow and green colors. I placed some cedar boughs on the right for added depth. The water flow at a slow shutter speed created a pattern. There is some orange on the rock above the falls. A touch of green reflecting into the water. All in all a nice place to sit on a rock and dangle your feet in the water. Enjoy the sound of running water and the peacefulness that can be found in a spot like this.

Jan Winther has a blog at this address

http://imagesbyjw.com/2013/03/25/bridal-veil-falls-summer/

Well that is it for now. I will continue the journey on my next post. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.